1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments relate to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel that effectively prevents an open circuit and a short circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma display panels are flat display panels which display images through a gas discharge, and can be formed in thin, large screens having wide viewing angles and high definition.
FIG. 1 is a view of a plasma display panel. Referring to FIG. 1, the plasma display panel includes a front panel 210 which includes a plurality of sustain electrodes, each of which consists of a pair of electrodes including a scan electrode 212 and a sustain electrode 213, disposed on a front surface glass 211 displaying images, and a rear panel 260 which includes a plurality of address electrodes 262 disposed perpendicular to the sustain electrodes on a rear surface glass 261, e.g., a rear surface of the plasma display panel. The front panel 210 is connected and parallel to the rear panel 260 at a predetermined distance.
The front panel 210 includes the scan electrode 212 and the sustain electrode 213 so that a gas discharge occurs and is maintained in a single cell. More specifically, the front panel 210 includes a pair of electrodes including the scan electrode 213 and the sustain electrode 213 respectively including transparent electrodes (212a, 213a) formed of a transparent ITO material and bus electrodes (212b, 213b) formed of metal. The scan electrode 212 and the sustain electrode 213 limit discharge current and are covered by an upper dielectric layer 214 that insulates pairs of electrodes from each other. A protective layer 215 is formed on the upper dielectric layer 214 by depositing MgO to facilitate discharge conditions.
In the rear panel 260, barrier ribs 264b are disposed parallel to each other to form a plurality of discharge spaces, e.g., discharge cells. The address electrodes 262, which perform an address discharge to generate vacuum ultraviolet rays, are disposed parallel to the barrier ribs 264b. R (red), G (green), and B (blue) phosphors 265, which emit visible light to display images during an address discharge, are coated on an upper surface of the rear panel 260. A lower dielectric layer 263 for protecting the address electrodes 262 is formed between the address electrodes 262 and the R, G, and B phosphors 265.
The plasma display panel further includes a frame on which scan, sustain, and address driving units are installed, and a terminal unit that is disposed on the rear surface and provides a predetermined signal transmitted from each driving unit to the plasma display panel.
When the plasma display panel is manufactured, electrodes are typically formed of photosensitive Ag through a printing-drying-exposing-developing-sintering processes. Ag is generally used because it is inexpensive compared to other precious metals and has high electric conductivity. However, Ag leads to very active diffusion and migration, and thus open and short circuits of electrodes can occur.
To prevent such vertical line defects, an ultra violet hardening resin, such as an epoxy acrylate-based resin, can be coated to seal a terminal unit, various organic materials present in the terminal unit can be removed by washing the terminal unit with water before performing a disposing process, or a silane-based material can be coated. However, even in these cases, permeation of external gas and external humidity in the plasma display panel cannot be completely prevented and furthermore, a short circuit or an open circuit due to a migration phenomenon can still occur. The present embodiments overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide these an other advantages over the prior art.